Marijuana Tax and Regulate Questions Aim at Massachusetts Ballot

A drive to put non-binding public policy questions on the ballot in select Massachusetts electoral districts this November has cleared its first hurdle. Late last month, the Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts announced that it had handed the requisite signatures to qualify in the 2nd Berkshire State Representative District. 

Voters there will be asked: “Shall the representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would allow the state to regulate and tax marijuana in the same manner as alcohol?”

The group is also doing signature-gathering to get the same question on the ballot in four state senate districts that encompass Cambridge, Somerville, a third of Boston, and eight suburban towns. And it is working to expand the signature-gathering drive to districts that include the rest of Boston. The Drug Policy Forum said it expects 10% of voters in the state to be able to vote on the question by the time the dust settles.

READ MORE: Marijuana Tax and Regulate Questions Aim at Massachusetts Ballot, The Daily Chronic, June 5, 2012